25 Countries Compared: Does Education Lead to Happiness?

It isn’t hard to draw a few basic conclusions. Better education leads to better employment. More employment options leads to improved happiness. Can a simple leap be made to say that the better educated someone is, the happier they will be?

Some would argue that it’s the other way around, that happier people are more likely to pursue better education. Others would say that it’s all a matter of circumstance, that when you look at the opportunities afforded to developed nations versus the rest, they not only have better education but other factors that contribute to “life satisfaction.”

The graphic below by our friends at Rasmussen explores the question. While it’s easy to make the association between happiness and education, the extreme polarization may surprise you. Well educated countries seem to be much happier than those with less education. It isn’t even close.